Page 5 of The Poison of the Earth
When he, finally, slowly, looks away, down at my legs, I know what he sees. Magical ‘burns’ around my ankles that have never faded though the shackles themselves are long gone. Surely some bruises.
But Commander Lonan sheathes his blade so his hand may touch me, a feather-light graze, over the wide, wicked scar on the side of my thigh. And still I glare at him, though his eyes are upon my body.
My skirts drop and his eyes rise slowly. I find myself breathing hard, as though I’ve been running.
“Who did this to you?”
Chapter Three
Lonan
“Who did this to you?”
I’m struggling for control of myself. This Fae that seems so unafraid of me, of my counselors, of my keep. She’s beautiful, I can tell that, under the mess she currently is, but many women are beautiful. No, it’s something else, though I can’t put my finger upon it.
The magical restraints that she must have been in for years left awful blackened marks on her rich olive skin. Both the binding marks around her lower calves, plus the signs of her having recently lost weight quickly.
And her thighs. It appears as though someone tried, rather successfully, to skin her. Repeatedly. My stomach turns at the thought of the pain involved in that.
She glares at me as she pants, but not a word escapes her.
Without my consent, my hands raise to take her shoulders. “Who did this to you?” I repeat, more forcefully.
“It matters not,” she spits, her coral-colored eyes flashing in rage.
“Like fuck it doesn’t,” I growl. I feel Kai approach behind me. His steady hand lands upon my shoulder.
“Come, Lonan. Let’s send her off for a bath. We can speak more to her later.” His voice is even, measured. Rather unlike my volatile, quiet best friend. But he’s right. I drop the girl’s shoulders and spin to look at him, my eyebrows raised. I wave a hand at Lilac and she slips around us, ordering Allie to follow her.
Once they’ve left the room, I glare at everyone in attendance.
Kai looks at me silently, but Caspian chuckles, having settled back into his chair. I spin to him.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
He holds his hands up in a gesture of surrender. “I didn’t realize you were gonna pin her to the wall. Not the fun way,” he smirks a moment before continuing, “Or I would have told you to handle her carefully. She’s a maid, and I thought she could be of use. No reason for you to question her roughly.”
I pace back to my chair and grab my wine, tossing it back. “A maid who could easily be a spy. But even a spy wouldn’t have done those things to themselves to pass. So. A spy with a horrific background, or a maid that’s been abused. Either way, you’re right, I’d have handled things differently.” I sigh, disappointed with myself.
King Alder generally wasn’t known tophysicallyabuse or mistreat the folks who worked for him. No, he was merely emotionally abusive, and generally unstable and sanctimonious. I frown.If it had been him that harmed her, she would have told us, right?It would explain why she would want revenge. Or, if she was a spy, she would have told us it was him, to gain herself trust. Either way, I now am inclined to think it was parents, or her brother she mentioned, or even a spouse, that did that to her.
I grab the carafe of wine and fill my goblet, turning back to Kai. “Explain yourself.”
My milk brother raises his eyebrows. “Pardon?”
“You didn’t want me to question her roughly, that was obvious,” I spit, though a thought hits me and I grimace.
Kai chuckles. “Since when did we start abusing young Fae?”
“Fuck,” I mumble and I turn and head for my rooms.
I SHUT THE DOORS, ASCENDmy private stairs and immediately strip nude. I rub the slits on my sides, fingers slipping in between to gently scratch.First point of order, a hot bath. I stride to my bathroom and run the water.
Decades ago, Fae stole nearly seventy plumbers from the human world. Absolutely worth the risk; indoor plumbing is delightful enough that I can damn near understand the human concept of sin. Most of the plumbers are still around, usually partnered with a water Fae, well paid, and quite settled and happy in our realm.
The steam roils over my large tub and I bring a full wine glass with me. I ease into the hot water, breathing a sigh of relief. As I soak and drink, my mind turns back to that little maid. Her hair had been in a long, ratty braid, but it had appeared ashy white. I bet she’ll be stunning, cleaned up and well-fed.
I soak a long time, half-pondering, yet again, the logistics needed for an attack on RedWater Castle itself.It would probably be easier to assassinate Alder.One or two Fae, easy in, hopefully able to escape after it’s done.
